Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded up 1.13 percent to 20,779.88 while the NASDAQ climbed 1.21 percent to 5,982.27. The S&P also rose, gaining 1.15 percent to 2,375.61.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Monday afternoon, the non-cyclical consumer goods & services sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from Deutsche Bank AG (USA) (NYSE: DB) and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA (ADR) (NYSE: BBVA).

In trading on Monday, telecommunications services shares rose by just 0.2 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included B Communications Ltd (NASDAQ: BCOM), down 4 percent, and Partner Communications Company Ltd (ADR) (NASDAQ: PTNR), down 2 percent.

Top Headline

Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL) reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter on Monday.

Halliburton posted adjusted earnings of $0.04 per share in the quarter on revenue of $4.28 billion; Analysts were expecting the company to earn $0.03 per share on revenue of $4.26 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Ocean Power Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: OPTT) shares shot up 44 percent to $2.64. On Friday, Ocean Power Technologies reported the deployment of its PB3 PowerBuoy in Japan.

Shares of Real Goods Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: RGSE) got a boost, shooting up 15 percent to $1.26 after the company issued a business update. RGS Energy expects Q1 sales of $1.96 million, up from $670,000 in the fourth quarter.

C R Bard Inc (NYSE: BCR) shares were also up, gaining 20 percent to $304.08 after Becton Dickinson and Co (NYSE: BDX) announced plans to acquire the company for $24 billion.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Marriott International Inc (NASDAQ:MAR) by 207.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,000,670 shares of the company’s stock after bu

There have been some macroeconomic signs that America's housing boom is starting to show signs of fatigue, but those figures haven't really shown up in the earnings reports of most homebuilders. The one exception is Beazer Homes USA (NYSE:BZH). While most companies are still showing strong home

Sturm Ruger & Company Inc (NYSE:RGR) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, August 1st, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 17th will be paid a dividend of 0.34 per share on Friday, August 31st. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividen